1. Field of Invention
The present invention is related to a method of electronically signing a document; a device for use in electronically signing a document; and a computer-readable medium that includes instructions for the computer to carry out a method of electronically signing a document.
2. Background Information
Historically, handwritten signatures have been used to identify a particular person and to bind that person to a particular document. A person's signature on a particular document supported the assertion that the person read and/or agreed to the document's content. However, handwritten signatures are subject to forgery.
Imprinting seals have also been historically used for these purposes, with and without accompanying handwritten signatures. However, the reliability of a seal is directly related to the level of difficulty, or overall cost, in replicating or counterfeiting the seal. Further, the value of a seal also depends on whether it is recognized or trusted.
Third-party witnesses have been used to lend further credence to the validity of a particular signature on a particular document. A third-party witness, such as a notary, may also use a difficult-to-reproduce seal. However, this system too depends on whether a verifier accepts the validity or veracity of the third-party attester.
In the past, most commerce was practiced within limited regional areas and within a limited homogenous population, such that the verification of signatures was relatively easy and repudiation claims were resolved quickly. At present, however, the advent of electronic commerce and a global economy has created a need for a method of electronically signing a document and corresponding device.
Electronic third-party schemes, such as digital signatures with digital certificates issued and verified by third parties under a Public Key Infrastructure (“PKI”), have proven to be cumbersome. This is especially evident when independent and unrelated PKIs, which may further be unfamiliar with each other, may be required to blindly, or even negligently or recklessly, trust representations made by each other.
Therefore, there is a need for a method of electronically signing a document and corresponding device. There is also a need to strengthen the written signature-based authentication of documents in a traditional two-party signed transaction using electronic, computer-based authentication mechanisms. There is also a need to strengthen third-party adjudication of the hand-written signature-based authentication of documents with computer-based authentication mechanisms. This should be able to be provided in addition to two-party authentication, and should be able to be applied forensically, that is, to provide evidence during a dispute.